Distance
by Jinxgirl
Summary: After the fall of Sunnydale, Buffy finds herself distancing from her friends and family. On her 23rd birthday, Faith makes it quite difficult for her to do so.
1. Chapter 1

Distance

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author notes: Seven months post Chosen. Will not be extremely long; will probably consist of 3-5 chapters. Notice that is a "probably" though lol.

Part one

Well at least there were no sightings of demons, vampires, or the apocalypse now…better knock on wood though. Too bad Robin wasn't around anymore, that would have been a good pun…

As Buffy looked around the rather chaotic ongoings around her of the nightclub's interior, almost dizzy by the very sight of the spinning disco balls, flashing strobe lights, bounding musical rhythm and gyrating bodies, she thought to herself with a wry sense of resignation that clearly she, at 23, was already starting to get old, because at the moment, none of this appealed to her. It was her birthday, she was young, if not wild or carefree, and all she could think was that she would have rather stayed at home with a pint of Ben and Jerry's and a Christian Bale movie. Given the usual adrenaline-driven quality of her evenings, that would have been a rare and cherished treat.

She could never enjoy her birthdays anyway; every year since she had turned 17, trying to celebrate her birthday in any way, shape, or form had ultimately been an invitation for disaster of various means. It had taken six years, but Buffy had finally concluded that celebration in her life should not go hand in hand with the milestones of age increases if she wanted to stand a greater chance of herself and all her friends living to her next birthday.

However, apparently no one else had learned this yet, or else they remained ever hopeful that with the destruction of the Hellmouth, things had changed in regard to the wisdom of holding Buffy bashes. When Buffy had shared her plan of a low-key non-celebration celebration, her friends and family- pretty much one and the same by this point- had not stood for it, and Buffy found herself being hauled rather firmly against her will to Club Maui, a place she was fairly sure did not resemble the actual Maui in the slightest. Unless Maui was much more enthusiastic with the dancing, drinking, and disco than Buffy would have expected. She could be wrong- she wasn't the best with world geography. Or history. Or…general knowledge.

There had been cake, and singing, and gifts, all rather public and a bit embarrassing, since Club Maui didn't' seem to Buffy, judging from the enthusiastic foreplay-by-rubbing going on in every direction within arm's length of her, the type of place to regularly invite family style birthdays. It had not surprised Buffy at all that Faith had suggested the location- what did surprise her was that everyone else had enthusiastically agreed to it.

Of course, it looked like everyone was having a pretty freaking good time, Buffy observed as she scanned through the throng of patrons, picking out those who were part of her "party." Everyone was laughing and talking, dancing and drinking- definitely, they were drinking. Everywhere she looked it seemed like someone she knew was drunk off their ass, stumbling and giggling, flirting or making out, dancing crazy or seeming nauseous and ill from their excesses. Buffy swirled the straw in her small strawberry daiquiri, taking a sip as she swung her legs slowly at the counter of the bar where she was seated, inwardly sighing. Herself plus excessive alcohol had never equaled anything of goodness, but damn, did it get boring to be the only one sober. And on her own birthday too…but she didn't even LIKE being drunk.

Maybe that was something you acquired with age. Or not. It looked like some of the junior Slayers were enjoying themselves perfectly well, and Buffy knew that not only were they most likely not of age, but they also had not been invited. She didn't feel like kicking their ass over it now though…she'd wait until tomorrow, when their hangover settled in good, and then see how much fun they had with her training methods.

Smirking, Buffy searched the crowd for one person in particular- her sister, Dawn, one of the occupants of the club who was most definitely not 21, and the only one that Buffy cared about keeping somewhat sober. So far, from what Dawn had been able to see anyway, Dawn had been sticking to soda and dancing- though both her outfit and her precise way of dancing made Buffy's eyes narrow with disapproval and a protective surge in her chest. Dawn might be 18 now, but that didn't mean Buffy should let every guy she came across drool over her like she was a Playboy bunny, right?

As Buffy's eyes scanned the room, she noticed Willow and Kennedy, giggly and very touchy-feely on a couch in the corner, Xander, grinning broadly as he talked loudly to a duo of junior Slayers, Rona and Vi on the dance floor together, the tomboy Rona and the timid Vi laughing and dancing with much more enthusiastic abandon than she could have believed had she not known them both to be very drunk…and Andrew, Buffy snorted out loud to see, was earnestly performing what looked like a very bad combination of the moonwalk and the robot…and of course, Faith. Faith was absolutely everywhere on the dance floor, her wild, overly sexualized moves dwarfing all others in comparison, and Buffy quickly tore her eyes away from the other Slayer, continuing to look for her sister…

Who was, Buffy quickly realized, sucking face with some gangly guy around nineteen or twenty, a guy she thought looked vaguely familiar but could not place…a guy that was pulling Dawn to her feet, starting to lead her towards the hallway, still keeping her deeply and frequently.

Buffy's every muscle tightened, her eyes widening, and she leapt to her feet as quick anger heated her veins, starting off in her retreating sister's direction immediately. But she hadn't taken more than a few steps before strong arms suddenly snagged her from behind, and a husky, all too familiar voice sounded near her ear.

"Where ya headed, Birthday Girl?"

Faith, of course…Faith, with her breath warm and heavy against Buffy's ear, her arms tight around Buffy's waist, pinning her arms down to her side. Faith, with her cheek against Buffy's hair, her ample chest pressing into Buffy's back…Faith, way, way closer than Faith usually got to her. Much, much closer, and also, allowing Dawn to retreat from her.

"After the guy playing tonsil hockey with my sister- the same one who's about to meet and greet the Slayer here," she said tightly, attempting to hurriedly break from Faith's hold of her, but Faith just laughed, tightening her grip. Without even looking at her Buffy knew she was drunk, at least a little bit, because the sound of her laughter was neither a snicker nor a guffaw, as Buffy was accustomed to hearing from her, but something looser, easier.

"Aw, come on, B, leave her alone…let her have her fun too."

"Fun?" Buffy sputtered, trying again to shove Faith away quickly from her and growing irked when the taller girl's arms only tightened even more. "Fun? She looked like she was having more than just FUN, it looked like she was letting him eat her face, and that is NOT fun, that's an act of cannibalism, which is a crime!"

Faith snorted, directly into Buffy's ear; Buffy cringed, both because this tickled and because it was very loud, and again squirmed against the other woman's hold as Faith grinned. "It's called kissing, B…damn, it really has been a long time since you got any, hasn't it?"

"My little sister doesn't need to GET anything, she's only eighteen!" Buffy hissed, conveniently dismissing from her memory the fact that she had gotten drunk when she was eighteen- and sixteen, actually…and that she had lost her own virginity at sixteen, had slept with three different people by the time she was nineteen. "She is way too young, way, way too young to be GETTING things!"

Faith burst out laughing, and Buffy fumed, her ears reddening…as much because she could feel Faiths' chest heaving against her back, her breath still tickling her earlobe, as from irritation, but she quickly told herself that irritation was all that she felt. The woman was soooo annoying- and she was letting Dawn get away!

"I'd say good for her, about time she let it all hang out."

"She doesn't need to be letting anything hang out, she needs to keep it all tucked in!" Buffy growled, and when Faith broke into laughter all over again, she seethed, elbowing her as best as she could while still having her arms pinned down, trying to step on her foot. "Faith, let go of me!"

"You can't control the kid forever," Faith said calmly, practically yelling to be heard over the music, and she didn't relax her hold on the older woman in the slightest. "Let her go, B, it's her party too."

"Actually, it's supposed to be mine, since it's MY birthday, but I guess that went out the window once everyone had five or six beers each, and forgot I existed," Buffy groused, rolling her eyes. She hated to admit it, but the longer Faith held her hostage, even as irritating and awkward it was, the less pissed she felt about the Dawn situation…and less inclined to go after her. Or maybe she was just getting tired. "But she can't just go off with a stranger, just whenever she wants!"

"Actually, yeah she can, she's eighteen, so she can do whatever the hell she feels like," Faith pointed out, and before Buffy could quickly counter that she couldn't drink, Faith smirked, "And whatever she can't, she can find a way where she can, nothing you do is gonna change that anymore. So leave her alone and let her think you're cooler than you actually are. Besides, that guy's not a stranger- she's been dating him for weeks."

That last part was thrown out as a casual afterthought, but once she heard it, Buffy completely forgot the rest of what Faith had said. Her eyes bulging, she finally succeeded with a burst of rapid motion to break away from Faith, spinning around to face her head on.

"What? She's been what?"

"What, she didn't tell you?" Faith said in all seeming innocence, and Buffy shook her head vehemently, all the more angry now.

"Uh, NO! She told YOU? She didn't tell me, but she told YOU?"

"Well, yeah," Faith deadpanned, shrugging. "I thought she'd told everyone. Willow and Xander, and Giles met him, and Andrew-"

"ANDREW? She told ANDREW?"

"Oh, come on, B, probably slipped her mind or something," Faith said, though she was snickering, dimples flickering in her cheeks. "Come on, lighten up. Come dance with me."

Taking hold of Buffy's hand, Faith started to pull her towards the very crowded, quite raucous, and rather booze-infiltrated dance floor, but Buffy resisted more quickly this time, digging in her heels so that Faith jerked to a stop, turned around, and looked at her with some surprise, brows knitting briefly.

"Faith, I don't' want to, I'm not in the mood."

Plus, dancing with Faith, who Buffy had just watched performing practically a strip tease, and literally a lap dance, with everyone who came close to her…after Faith had already practically dry humped her while she was just sitting there minding her own business…no, just weird. Way, way too weird.

Faith, however, was never one to easily take no for an answer, and she tugged at Buffy's arm impatiently, leaning close to practically yell in her ear her urging. Buffy swallowed, trying to put distance between them as the other woman's hair brushed her shoulder, her breast lightly pressing against the side of her arm. She tried not to look down at the ample amount of cleavage Faith's low-cut top was displaying as she attempted to pull back.

"Live a little, B! It's your birthday!"

"Exactly!" Buffy yelled back over the music, one hand thrust out with exasperation as the other attempted to extract itself from Faith's grasp. "It's MY birthday, and I not only got dragged to a party I didn't want to have, I got dragged to a club I didn't want to go to, and then I got dragged away from introducing my fists to the guy that apparently my sister has decided she should drag away from every meeting me, even though I think I'm very understanding for a guardian figure, and definitely not too intimidating or scary, or embarrassing, because even if I do threaten violence I usually just do a lot of pointed talking. And NOW, I'm getting dragged over to dance with you when I'm tired and annoyed and starting to get a headache, and I know the way you like to dance and it involves a lot of hands, and I really don't' want hands right now!"

With that outburst laid at her feet, Faith stared at her, eyes wide, mouth slightly open, and then shook her head, blinking.

"DAMN, B, you need a Valium or something…or a tranquilizer. Or a stick-up-your-ass remover…"

"Faith," Buffy exhaled, her voice more weary now. "Just go…please?"

"Well, fine, whatever," Faith muttered, releasing Buffy's arm fast, almost shoving her away from her. "Then I'll just leave you alone."

Turning away, she headed towards the dance floor, first snagging a beer from the bar counter, throwing her head back, and draining its contents in two long swallows. Plunking it back down, she strode towards the dance floor in nearly a swagger, immediately grabbing hold of the first person she saw and pulling him close to her, grinding her crotch into his ass as she ran a hand up his chest. Buffy, gritting her teeth, turned away. Somehow it was always in a crowd of people that she felt most alone.

If she was honest with herself, though, the truth was that she usually felt alone now. Ever since the destruction of Sunnydale, but especially the development of the new Watcher's Council and Slayer Headquarters, which Buffy and Faith, as Senior Slayers, coheaded, she had felt, more than she thought possible, even greater pressure and responsibility placed upon herself. Buffy was used to carrying the weight- and the fate- of the world on her shoulders, but now that she personally knew and worked with so many, she had to be concerned with individuals as well, more than ever before, the lives, recruitment, psychological well-being, and training of hundreds, eventually, probably thousands. With Angel going rogue, teaming up with Wolfram and Hart by heading their evil law firm, there was that much else for her to worry about- and that much fewer to count on for help.

Buffy loved her friends and family, still wanted and needed to be close to them, but with her growing responsibilities and sense of authority, she found herself unconsciously distancing herself from them, and knew they were from her as well. Everyone was so busy, and things were so different now…THEY were so different now. Even in what was supposed to be celebration, it was hard to just let herself have fun with them. Did she even know how to have fun anymore?

It looked like everyone else hadn't, anyway. Certainly Faith, with yet another beer in her hand, and a guy's chest in the other, looked like her increased responsibilities had done little to make her want to pull away from the world.

Buffy grimaced slightly, shifting her eyes away from her sister Slayer's twisting form. Maybe she'd been a little short with Faith…she'd probably hurt her, by not being more receptive to her dancing or at least hanging out with her. But she'd been serious about Faith's roaming hands….and anyway, the girl looked like she wasn't exactly about to go off in the corner and lick her wounds any time soon.

Her relationship with Faith now was odd as well, different. Although they were civil to each other, respected each other, they still fought with frequency, still often had an undercurrent of tension between them even when they weren't openly battling…but Buffy knew she cared about Faith, considered her family…even if her family was a unit she was constantly distancing herself from. The words were never spoken, but she knew without their existing a need for them to be said that Faith cared about her too.

Then why was it always so hard for them to simply coexist?

(tbc)


	2. Chapter 2

Distance

Disclaimer: I own nothing; just borrowing a while.

Part two

Buffy found her eyes drifting back towards Faith subconsciously, even as her mind was occupied with fretful, indignant thoughts of her sister with the guy, a guy that she was probably too ashamed to introduce her sister- but not Andrew or anyone else in the world, apparently- to. As she eyed Faith and her wild movements on the dance floor, it crossed her mind that Robin Wood would have simply rolled his eyes at Faith's current display of aggressively flirtacious behavior. He had never been the jealous type, which a person would usually think would be a must for anyone seriously dating Faith for any length of time…but on second thought, maybe that was a liability. Maybe Faith wanted someone who was jealous for her, someone who wanted her to be all theirs instead of letting her do whatever she wanted with whoever she wanted without much caring, as long as they got some too.

Buffy had been surprised they'd stuck it out as long as they had- not only had she always figured that Faith was allergic to relationships lasting longer than two hours, but the two of them were both so cocky and stubborn that she would have thought a day together would have made them want to kill each other. And it had, countless times, many that she had personally witnessed with part irritation, part amusement. But they had regardless been together for nearly seven months, broke it off just over a week ago, under circumstances that Faith had not talked about and Buffy hadn't asked for an elaboration on. Maybe that was the reason behind Faith's show tonight- to prove to everyone that she was over Robin and no longer cared, that she was every bit as hot and wild as ever and willing to demonstrate it to anyone who came close.

Or maybe she was just being Faith and having a good time. Since when had Buffy turned into Dr. Phil anyway? Maybe Faith was right and she really did need to learn to find the fun more.

Buffy continued to slowly sip her soda- she hadn't been about to continue drinking her daiquiri after leaving it unattended for so long- and continued to keep a look-out for vampires or demons as she watched her friends, her eyebrows raising at the impressive amount of alcohol they were putting away. Yeah, tomorrow would definitely be a bad time for an apocalypse to decide to show itself…

Within a half hour, restless and more headachey than before, she decided to call it a night. The fact that Dawn and her apparently secret boyfriend/face-sucking partner had not yet arrived failed to escape her notice, so she headed over to the couch where Willow and Kennedy were sprawled out, beers scattered on the floor at their feet, limbs entwined as their mouths worked together enthusiastically, and cleared her throat loudly, making them jump and hurriedly pull back.

"I'm heading home, Will- whenever you see Dawn, make sure she's somewhat sober and that she gets home, okay? And tell Xander to look out for her too, because obviously me doing that is no longer an option in everyone's secretive collective guy-hiding mindset."

"What?" Willow asked in confusion, her brow scrunching as she looked up at Buffy, her face slightly flushed, her head still tilted close to Kennedy's, arms loosely around the younger Slayer's neck. Buffy could tell from the brightness of her eyes and the way her loose smile lingered, even as her eyebrows drew together, that she too was somewhat intoxicated and more than a little happy with her current whereabouts with her girlfriend. "But Buffy, it's your birthday! You can't be the first to leave- aren't you having fun?"

"Yeah, it was fun," Buffy said less than convincingly, giving her a quick and mostly forced smile, "but I think I've celebrated enough for one night. And hey, no spooky demons, murdering monsters, and multiple near death incidents makes this all a huge success compared to all my other birthdays, right?"

"I was hoping for that!" Willow said happily, sitting up further and leaning towards Buffy a little, beaming. "I said a little spell for good fortune and openness of spirit, and look, no closed spirits, which, which means everyone is having a good time, and plus, no demons! Because, because demons probably have closed spirits, so that's like…a double, a double spell banishing…thing…"

"You are so cute, babe," Kennedy laughed, cutting Willow off with a deep kiss that made Willow giggle and Buffy quickly look away.

"Great…uh, great, thanks, Will, good job," she said less than whole-heartedly. She scanned the crowd for Dawn quickly one more time, and not finding her, turned back to Willow.

"So, see you later…uh, thanks, Will…"

"Bye, Buffy! Don't let the vampires bite!" Willow giggled, and Kennedy smirked, nuzzling her girlfriend's neck as she pulled her down close beside her again, cutting her eyes up at Buffy.

"You can let other things bite though, might do you some good," the brunette grinned.

As Willow giggled, Buffy felt her jaw tense unconsciously as she turned, beginning to squeeze her way through the crowd in an attempt to make her way towards the front door. She instantly stiffened when a warm hand suddenly snagged her shoulder; even before the person attached to it spun her around, Buffy already knew and sensed that it would be Faith who had once again stopped her in her tracks.

"What's with you trying to take off all the time lately…you taking over my job here?"

Buffy pressed her lips together tightly, her eyes shifting with frustration towards the door even as Faith turned her to face her. When she looked back at the other Slayer, it was immediately clear that Faith's previous state of being perhaps slightly drunk had shifted in the past half hour to being very, obviously, no-doubt-about-it drunk. Even standing still, holding onto Buffy's shoulder in what Buffy suspected was as much to keep herself balanced as to keep Buffy from leaving, Faith was swaying slightly on her feet, and not exactly in time with the rapid beat of the music surrounding them either. She was grinning, dimples in view in her cheeks, her face slightly flushed, eyes glinting brightly, and as she leaned in close to Buffy, her hand tightening on her shoulder, Buffy almost choked at the strong scent of alcohol emanating from her breath. God, did she drink an entire liquor store or somewhat?

Figures. There was no such thing as a fast and easy escape in the case of Buffy Summers and her life, was there?

"Let go, Faith," Buffy said, scrunching up her nose and turning her head away from Faith in a slightly exaggerated cough in response to her booze-laden breath, her voice holding more than a slight edge of tension and irritation, and she peeled Faith's fingers off her shoulder, gritting her teeth when Faith merely clamped it right back on again. "I'm going home."

"Hoooome? But party's barely started…you're not leaving yet…party barely started," Faith exclaimed, much more loudly than necessary. She gave Buffy a little shake for emphasis, still speaking with her face entirely too close for Buffy's comfort- close enough that to Buffy's repulsion, she felt a few specks of Faith's spittle spray her cheek.

Making an indignant sound of disgust, Buffy wiped at her cheek, pulling away again.

"Well it's over for me, Faith…and honestly, it probably should be for you too. You're probably not going to be able to even move in the morning," Buffy warned her with a raised eyebrow.

She thought to herself partly with annoyance, partly with begrudging concern, that she had never seen Faith so wasted before- and this was the girl that could stoically toss back an amount of alcohol that would have pickled Buffy's brain and inner intestines like a…well, pickle. Buffy suspected if she had seen before her eyes and counted everything the woman had consumed that evening in the past few hours she would have been either very awed that she was still alive or else very scared…or maybe both.

"Aw, you're no fun, B," Faith almost whined, and the tone of her voice made Buffy's eyebrows raise up even further, surprise temporarily overriding her frustration. She had never heard Faith speak in any tone anywhere approaching that before. Complaining, sometimes, bitching, yes, sarcasms and put downs, definitely, but whining? Whining was Dawn's department- and very, very, very occasionally, so rare as to be hardly worth mentioning, of course, and by no means as often as her sister's, Buffy's.

But that had definitely just been a whine, and now Faith was somewhat clumsily flinging her arm around Buffy's neck and leaning her head close, attempting to turn and steer her towards the still-crowded dance floor.

"You're no fun…here, lemme help you find it…"

"FAITH, I said I wasn't dancing, and I SAID I was leaving!" Buffy ground out, twisting away from her, or rather attempting to, but although Faith would have likely found it impossible to walk in a straight line if asked, she held onto Buffy doggedly, her arm around Buffy's neck practically choking her, fingernails cutting into Buffy's arm as she yelled back at her.

"Hey…hey, stop! You're gonna come have some fun…it's your birthday, gotta find the fun, B!"

"FAITH!" Buffy yelped, but Faith, having managed to drag her along by pure force to the edge of the dance floor, now immediately locked her arms around Buffy's back in a full bodily embrace, swaying rapidly and grinding herself against Buffy so that Buffy had no choice but to unwillingly sway along with her, to feel every inch of Faith's body rubbing against her own, whether or not she wanted to. Which, she told herself indignantly, she very, very much did NOT want to.

"FAITH!" she nearly screeched, twisting her body forcefully in an attempt to break this hold, but Faith, apparently interpreting this as Buffy returning her full on freak dancing in kind, merely laughed in seeming enjoyment, rocking their bodies back and forth even more rapidly, only laughing harder when she nearly lost balance and toppled them both over onto the ground.

"Damn…getting the hang of it, B…knew you'd find the fun…"

"Faith, get OFF me," Buffy hissed, her muscles tensed, heartbeat speeding, flushing with anger, embarrassment, and growing agitation at her position. God, Faith was INFURIATING!

All she wanted was to go home, and now she was at the mercy of a very drunk, very strong, and very stubborn Slayer who seemed immune to understanding yelled protests, attempts to violently release herself, and resistance of all forms…if anything, Faith seemed to take it as signals that she was doing a good job of showing Buffy a good time.

She would.

You would think that in prison, Faith would have developed a need for privacy and personal space, seeing as she had probably been given so little of it, but clearly this was not the case, as Buffy could now practically count the woman's ribs just by feeling each of them pressed so closely against hers. Pairing this with the grinding, the twisting, the almost stifling warmth of her skin against Buffy's, her rapid breaths frequently landing against Buffy's neck, the excited pounding of her heart against Buffy's…and the fact that it had been quite a while since Buffy had been so close to anyone, for any reason…all that, despite her extreme frustration was enough to make Buffy just the tiniest bit aroused.

And that was bad. That was very, very bad.


	3. Chapter 3

Distance

Disclaimer: I own nothing; just borrowing a while.

Part two

"Faith, STOP it before I break your arms!" Buffy said desperately, fiercely twisting and attempting to arch away from Faith, Faith's very close and very enthusiastically dancing body, or at least to overbalance them where they would fall, and she could roll away and flee. To her increased horror and mortification, she realized that several people around them were watching, including Andrew…and they not only didn't seem shocked or concerned, but were actually entertained. And as Buffy's eyes bulged in renewed rage and humiliation, she noticed that Andrew had suddenly managed to produce his beloved camera and started to point it in their direction, narrating earnestly as he began to film her…film her! He was filming her, he was filming this, her with FAITH!

Buffy yelled an obscenity laced threat that was probably lost to most by the music and noises of the crowd; Faith snorted with laughter, turning her head briefly to beam towards Andrew's direction.

"We gotta paparazzi, B! Let's give 'em what they're wanting here!"

With that she suddenly grabbed Buffy's backside with both hands, giving her a firm squeeze, and Buffy yelped, fully enraged by now. With her arms now briefly freed, she seized Faith roughly, slinging her down to the ground and throwing herself down with her, rolling and releasing in such a way that she landed free from her, hurriedly scrambling to her feet. As Andrew rushed forward, camera held high, and all watching buzzed with excitement at this new development, Faith, having either gotten up faster than Buffy would have expected or else having been helped up and given a point in Buffy's direction by some malicious person who obviously got off on observing Buffy's suffering, caught up to Buffy as she reached the doorway.

"Damn, B, that hurt!"

She sounded a little pissed off now, her voice slightly slurred, but also hurt, and Buffy gritted her teeth, forcing herself not to simply turn and punch her, telling herself repeatedly that Faith, infuriating as she was even sober, was drunk now, and so couldn't help herself as much. Probably.

"Faith…go back inside and find someone else to screw with, tonight is not the night to push it with me."

Opening the door, Buffy stepped outside, even as she remembered to her own renewed frustration that she had rode over with Xander and didn't' have the keys to his car. Faith, to her utter fury, followed fairly quickly, albeit still somewhat unsteadily, letting the door close behind her.

"Aw, lighten up, B…you know you liked it…anyway, I didn't push. You pushed, you made me fall, YOU did the pushing…"

"Faith, I'm going home," Buffy snapped, eyes flashing, even as she wondered with mounting frustration exactly how she would manage that without having to go back into party to face certain mortification all over again. Unless Faith had keys…had Faith driven? She could take Faith's keys…and that would make sure Faith wouldn't kill someone trying to drive home. Although according to some, Buffy driving sober was just as dangerous as anyone else driving so drunk they couldn't see straight.

"Faith- do you have any-" Buffy started to ask, attempting to lower her voice, make it slightly nicer in tone now that she was asking a favor, but Faith never let her get very far into it. Grabbing hold of her hand, Faith pulled Buffy in towards her, grinning as she said in a low, slurred tone, "Home? Home is where the heart is…so…guess you're home right now…always home…'cause your heart is right here. Right…here…B…"

Still holding Buffy's right hand, she reached out with her left to clumsily grope at Buffy's left breast, as if she were trying to feel her heart. Buffy sucked in a sharp breath, eyes widening, said heart's beating kicking it up several notches in its speed, and she instinctively shoved Faith away from her so forcefully that Faith flew back a good twenty feet, landing on her back on the asphalt so hard that her eyes widened and she inhaled in a shuddering manner, seeming unable to release her breath afterward. She was so pale that for a few moments Buffy thought she would pass out, and a brief flicker of worry that she had seriously hurt her moved through her. But when Faith finally drew in a straggling breath, her anger flared up again. She could practically feel Faith's FINGERPRINTS on her, even through her shirt!

"What the hell, Faith, what, are you going to freaking rape me or something? I'm not one of your drooling boytoys that you can paw all over the place and they'll just drool and beg for more, I'm not your personal cure for boredom or, or living puppet, or, or, tall, warm, human-shaped vibrator! I don't' care how drunk you are or how stupid or horny, keep your FUCKING hands off of me!"

Her voice echoed across the parking lot, and the few people that had been exiting their cars to head inside the club turned to stare at her, then quickly hurried off, no doubt concluding that this obviously angry screaming woman was not one they wanted to mess with. As Buffy glared down at Faith, her fists knotted at her sides, jaw lifted, she was more than ready to turn and stride away from her, to leaveher on the ground, maybe stopping first to dig through Faith's pockets for her keys so she could take off in her car. But Faith spoke, her voice low, eyes lowered, still struggling to draw in normal breaths, not yet attempting to get to her feet.

"Okay…but…you don't gotta…keep your hands…offa me…if you don't wanna. Don't mind…"

Buffy stared at her, disbelieving that even now, the woman was pushing, even now she was apparently reckless and stubborn enough not to give up, and suddenly she had to try very hard to suppress a strong urge to burst out laughing. It was not funny- it wasn't, she told herself sternly, but still she had to press her lips together tightly, biting the inside of her cheeks to stop herself from smiling.

Looking down at Faith with less anger now, but a sudden and strong wave of weariness, Buffy shook her head; Faith looked back up at her, finally starting to breathe more normally, her coloring better, but in her skimpy top Buffy bet she'd scraped the hell out of her back and elbows on the asphalt. Jeez…happy freaking birthday to me, Buffy thought with high sarcasm. No demons this time…just drunken crowds, sneaky sisters, mass humiliation, and of course, as always, Faith.

"Faith, you're drunk," Buffy said tiredly, sighing. "Scary drunk. Why don't you get up…go inside…sit down…or maybe lay down would be a better option actually. Whatever the case, find someone else to practice a strip show on."

"It's okay, I'm legal now," Faith said brightly, as if this was what Buffy had been concerned about, as she started to work unsteadily at getting to her feet. "Turned it last month…no big birthday bash like our girl B, but it still counts…I can be as drunk as I want…strip if I want…can't even get in trouble, I'm legal!"

Whether or not Faith could legally get drunk had been the last thought on Buffy's mind, although the mention of stripping threw her for several moments. She blinked, somewhat thrown and sidetracked by a different part of Faith's proclamation. Faith hadn't been 21 until last month? God, that was a LOT of years of fake IDs for who knows how many illegal activities then…

It had been Faith's birthday last month?

Buffy sighed loudly again as Faith got to her feet, not yet coming towards her, just standing, swaying slightly and watching Buffy with a continued lopsided smile. So weird…this was so not like Faith, to be like this, so chatty and goofy and grabby…she was like a big three-year-old. Except hornier. Surely Buffy wasn't like this when she was drunk. Of course she wasn't. Still, she decided that she wasn't going to ask around for opinions on that.

Faith was starting towards her again, rambling something about her newly legal drinking status before Buffy cut her off, holding out a hand quickly to ward off any new attempts at gropeage, and eyeing her partly with suspicion, partly with continued exasperated, not quite so angry weariness as Faith approached. If she'd had a headache before, inside the party, it was nothing compared to now, outside of it with an all-too-energetic Faith.

"How much did you drink anyway?"

"Don't know…a lot?" Faith snickered, coming up alongside her, standing close, but not quite touching, looking Buffy up and down slowly. Buffy edged away, tensing and preparing to defend herself from roaming hands again, and Faith grunted. "Damn I gotta pee so bad."

She stumbled slightly and grabbed Buffy's shoulder, steadying herself, and the hypervigilant Buffy backed up hurriedly, causing her to almost fall. Faith scowled, putting out her arms for balance to catch herself.

"Damn, B…you're fast…"

"You are so plastered," Buffy muttered, her jaw tensing again unconsciously, watching the brunette's movements in continued disbelief, and Faith argued.

"Am not…I'm wearing leather, not plastic…you like?"

Grinning at her in what was clearly intended to be irresistible seduction, Faith stroked both hands up her leather clad thighs, and then, as if she had forgotten to stop, continued to caress her palms up over her hips, sides, chest, and even face, her eyes half closing. Buffy found herself staring, her mouth suddenly dry, and she swallowed quickly, tearing her eyes away.

"My hair is soft," Faith murmured, a surprised undertone to her voice now as her fingers reached her hair, and she smoothed her hand over her head again, repeating to herself in a smoky croon. "My hair's soooft."

"I'm not petting you like a cat, if that's what you're getting at," Buffy said quickly, holding up her hands in protest again. "God, Faith, please tell me you don't' plan on driving yourself home. You might as well hand over your keys now, because no way in hell am I letting you drive home when you're over here grabbing me randomly and babbling about your hair. Do you have your keys? You weren't gonna drive, right?"

"Not a car…I'm good with the other kind of stick shift though…might do some of that…" Faith asserted, cocking her eyebrows and grinning, lurching forward slightly on her feet before catching herself, and Buffy actually heard herself growl out loud under her breath, her nails digging into her own palms.

"Oh, shut up!"

She wanted to just start stalking away, car or no car, but there were several problems with that. First of all, it was a pretty long walk back to the Slayer headquarters. Second, she wasn't sure she knew the way. Third, she wasn't sure she even had a key to get inside the building. Fourth, if she took off, Faith the Falling Down Drunk would undoubtedly follow her, and Buffy would have to babysit her, and some vampire might attack and hurt her or even kill her while she was so impaired. She wanted to just run, knowing that Faith could never keep up with her right now, but again, she'd be leaving her to be vamp food. But if she went back inside the party to get Xander's keys…well, first off, she hadn't even seen Xander in the past half hour, and second, there was the mortification factor of returning to a video that would no doubt eclipse Paris Hilton's.

Oh, she was definitely going to kick Andrew's ass. And every other part of him…just why was it that the little twerp still feared Faith, but he didn't fear her?

It looked like the only option Buffy had for the moment though. It was either that or stand out in the parking lot all night listening to Faith babble and trying not to break her fingers to deter her from touching her again.

Exhaling loudly through her nose, her shoulders drawing up, Buffy turned back towards the front door without another word, starting towards it; as she had with great irritation and more than a passing urge to commit violence predicted, Faith made a sound of protest, yelling up the stairs after her.

"I am! I am too good! Ask Robin! Asshole…moron…mama's boy…stupid bastard, he fucked up leaving THIS, he's never gonna get it so good from anyone else! Ask X-Man…ask anyone, anyone you want, they're all, they're all gonna tell you how good I am, I'm the best! Best in bed ever! And on couches…and on tables…and in the car…on the kitchen floor-"

"Oh god I hope not," Buffy said in horror, her face flushing, freezing halfway up the front steps of the club as images of Faith's claims assaulted her mind vividly, and she shook her head as hard as she could, attempting to clear her mind even as her stomach fluttered with a brief excitement she flatly refused to identify as such. "I EAT in the kitchen! AND off of tables!"

This halting gave Faith a chance to lope up behind her, catching up to her, and she suddenly hugged her from behind, not ungently, her hands too close to Buffy's breasts for Buffy's comfort, her chin resting on Buffy's shoulder, dark hair mingling with Buffy's blonde strands. Buffy felt her insides twist, and she squirmed in discomfort…but somehow, for no reason she could understand, she did not pull away.

Or maybe it was for no reason she wanted to understand.

"Bet you're good too," Faith breathed, turning her face towards Buffy's ear and speaking in an exaggerated whisper. Buffy shivered at the tickle of her breath, even as badly as it still smelled of booze. "Another Slayer…might even keep up with me…always wanted to see…"

Buffy told herself to break away, to yell, to firmly deny this, to punch the hell out of Faith…but all she could do, all she could bring herself to do, was choke out Faith's name in a faint near whisper, her body flushed and still, her heart racing as Faith kept her locked in this close embrace, continuing to whisper-scream in her ear in blurred tones.

"Ever wonder what two Slayers would…be like…in bed? I do…B…I do a lot…wanna try it out…B?"

"Faith!" Buffy managed, her voice louder now, but lacking the sharp authority she had wanted. Instead she sounded scared, almost pleading…and she was not moving. Dammit, why wasn't she MOVING?

Faith's hands were slowly, somewhat awkwardly stroking up Buffy's arms now, and Buffy breathed in shakily, trying hard to deny the tingle running through her to her core…she did not, did NOT, enjoy this, none of this, not ANY part of this. She was enduring…just ENDURING….

What the hell was wrong with her? She was PISSED OFF! She was enduring…

"Bet it's wicked hot…way better than with a stupid vampire…don't even get hot, I bet…bet they're all cold. We don't get cold…we don't…."

Faith was still hugging her, still touching her, still so close, gentle…and oh god, Buffy had to stop this, she had to do something, she had to do something NOW.


	4. Chapter 4

Distance

Disclaimer: I own nothing; just borrowing a while.

Author notes: May be a while before I update; relatives are coming over for four days. By the way guys…if it's not obvious by now, this is supposed to be humorous. This is more of a parody of Buffy/Faith than anything else…obviously Faith is out of character, being so insanely drunk…and Willow's spell, as you may have guessed, is also going to come into this. Lol

Part 4

"I'm going," Buffy muttered, and when Faith quite predictably did not respond to this less than assertive statement by backing off and respecting her apparent wishes, she gritted her teeth, trying again. "Faith, I'm going. Get off of me."

"You're warm," Faith mumbled, and she lifted Buffy's hair aside, pressing her face directly into the back of Buffy's neck. Her nose was cold, and Buffy gasped, a chill passing quickly through her spine, her stomach dropping in a manner that wasn't entirely unpleasant.

"Faith! Stop!" She finally shook herself of her previous near paralysis and shoved at Faith's hands, breaking her hold on her and pivoting quickly out of her grasp. Grabbing hold of Faith's shoulders, she held her at arm's length from her, preventing her from latching onto her again as she forced herself to look hard into the other girl's eyes and to speak with deliberate directness.

"I'm going home. You're going to keep your hands off me and go inside, get someone to babysit you, go dance your freakin' legs off, take a nap, further deplete the world's stock of alcoholic beverages, whatever you want, but I'm going home."

Letting go of Faith now, watching for a second to make sure she wasn't going to immediately topple over without the balance of Buffy's hands, Buffy turned to walk back inside the club, bracing herself. Nearly immediately Faith called out, obviously not having "got" the gist of what Buffy had thought was a very, very clear message.

"Wicked…gonna go with you, B…"

Buffy was going to kill her. There was no other option. Surely this counted as justifiable homicide.

"NO!" she said emphatically, stopping to pivot about to face Faith and shake her head vehemently. "NO, you are NOT. Now come inside- you can't stay outside because vampires are outside, and they really, really like drunk Slayers, and right now you are definitely a drunk Slayer, probably the DRUNKEST Slayer, in the history of humanity, and possibly the world."

"Wicked," Faith grinned, dimples flashing, eyes lighting up, seemingly pleased to have the honor of holding this dubious title. "Finally…beat you out in something, B…"

Buffy just stared at her, exhaling through her teeth. Now that she wasn't touching Faith she felt better, more clear-headed, able to feel again some of the frustration and anger she should be feeling instead of…something else. Now that she wasn't touching her, she was able to remember that Faith was a maddening pain in the ass and all she wanted was to go home- without Faith tagging along to demonstrate how "good" she was on Buffy's bed, table, couch, or kitchen floor.

God, she was going to have to clean later.

"I'm going home," she repeated for the tenth time or so, but her voice was louder now, more convincing, even angry. Encouraged by this more appropriate tone, she continued. "I'm going home, and NO, you're not going with me, I don't want you to go with me, I don't want to go anywhere, with anyone, but especially not you! Okay? You are NOT coming with me, I don't WANT you to come with me, so go inside, go skank dance with everyone else who actually likes it, and leave me alone!"

Leaning towards Faith and grabbing at her upper arm less than gently, she began to haul her up the front steps of the club again, intending to seek out Xander, get his keys, dump Faith on him for him to take care of, and go home to the peace that was all she had wanted in the first place. It seemed that it was destined that night for Buffy to be unable to move more than two steps forward without being forced to a stop, however, because Faith picked that moment to burst into tears. As Buffy immediately pulled them up short, having to grab Faith with both hands to keep her from falling on her face, her eyes grew round with shock and more than a little alarm at the other girl's actions. She had never seen Faith cry before, ever, at least not while wearing her own body, and as frustrated as she was with her, seeing her suddenly break out now with a steady flow of tears and audible sobbing was enough to kickstart serious concern. What was going ON with her?

"Faith?" she asked hesitantly, her brow furrowing, still holding Faith's shoulders, and she tilted her head, trying to get a good look at her face. "Faith…"

"You don't like me!" Faith ground out, a loud sob escaping, turning her face away stubbornly, as if trying to hide from her, her shoulders shaking, rounding in under Buffy's hands. "You're mean…stuck up bitch…skinny little twit…stick up your ass…you don't like me…you're never gonna like me…"

Buffy gaped at her, still holding her by the shoulders loosely, blinking several times. Every time she thought Faith could startle her no further, the woman seemed determined to prove her wrong…

"You have GOT to be kidding me," she said incredulously, shaking her head. "Faith, you really need to go sleep this off, you don't even know what you're saying anymore."

She tried to turn her around, to steer her back inside the rest of the way, but Faith's body was stiff and resistant, and she covered her face with her hand, making it quite difficult for Buffy to turn her, let alone drag her.

"I do too…you don't like me, you're never gonna like me, you're always taking off on me, everyone's always taking off on me! No one stays, they all go taking off, bye Faith, see ya later Faith, and then no more see you later, don't see them EVER, fucking liars, fucking assholes, there is NOT a see you later! They always go…stupid asshole, fucking mama's boy, I don't love you no more, just GO then, don't love me, I don't love you either, I hate you, hate you all! I don't love anyone, hate you all, hate love! You don't' love me, I don't love you either, I hate you!" Faith nearly screamed.

Her voice had started off slightly raised, high pitched with weeping agitation coloring its tone, but as she had started off in her ranting the volume of her voice had raised considerably so that she was shouting, tears gone now, her features tight with sudden rage. But then, just as Buffy tensed up, starting to let go of her, fully expecting her to attack her, Faith's expression crumpled, and she started to cry again, her posture slumping. "You don't like me…"

Buffy in no way knew how to deal with this. She in no way WANTED to deal with this. She'd had more than enough DEALING with Faith for one night- or one year, for that matter- and she wanted nothing more than to throw her fireman style over her shoulder, carry her inside the club, dump her on the floor, and delegate someone else to take a turn dealing with her. She was very very tempted as it was to do exactly that.

But on the other hand…some of Faith's behavior was finally beginning to make sense to her. From what she was saying to Buffy, anyway, it sounded like Faith was still upset over breaking up with Robin. That would explain the terrifying amount of drinking, the weird groping behaviors, and all the tears and babbling about people leaving her now…still weird, still highly uncomfortable, still something Buffy in no way wanted to deal with. But at least it was something Buffy could understand and even sympathize with. She'd been a mess too after breaking up with Angel, and even Riley…and well, Spike was just a whole swimming pool of mess-ness from the start. And if it had only been a week, and this was the first guy Faith had a real relationship with, maybe even loved a little…or a lot…

Buffy suddenly realized that she had no clue how deep or serious Faith's and Robin's relationship had been while it lasted, that she had never really been interested enough to ask. And it wasn't like Faith was one to go around sharing her feelings or looking for a shoulder to cry on.

Except now apparently. With a lot of help from her friend Jack Daniels.

Well, that made sense…but it still didn't make this easy for her to deal with. Still, with these new thoughts and suspicions, Buffy felt a twisting of sympathy in her chest for Faith, enough to have a slight edge over her irritation, and she took a deep breath, patting her back awkwardly.

"Hey…hey, I like you, okay, just not…not like you're wanting here…or like Robin, or like…okay, bad name, don't say that name?" Buffy said hurried when Faith made a low growling noise somewhere between a snarl and a sob. "Well anyway…you're not gonna want me like that tomorrow morning anyway, that's your friend Mr. Booze talking. Uh, look, Faith, it's okay…okay?"

"Is not!" Faith protested, sniffing loudly and turning to glare at her fiercely even through still teary eyes and mascara streaked cheeks. Buffy visibly cringed at the sound, praying not to see snot joining tears any time soon. "Is not…liar…you don't' like me, he don't, no one does…I don't' either, I don't like you either…"

She suddenly jerked out from under Buffy's hands, still glaring, eyes glinting darkly, still crying, but angry now, gesturing wildly. "Get offa me…go away…I don't like you either, go away!"

Up until this point Buffy would have been delighted to oblige her. But she couldn't just leave her like this now…plus, ridiculous as it was, Buffy was actually starting to feel guilty that Faith was upset. Even if it was mostly the alcohol talking.

Sighing heavily, she took a slow step towards Faith, reaching out again. When Faith stepped back, throwing out her arms for balance, Buffy steadied her and then awkwardly lay a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, I do, Faith…you just piss me off sometimes is all. Okay, a lot of times…most of the time…look, let's go inside, okay? Come on, turn around."

Slipping an arm somewhat gingerly around Faith's shoulders, Buffy attempted to turn her around and guide her the rest of the way up the steps. But Faith, seeming to mistake the gesture for an embrace rather than a practical way of moving her along, at first grunted her protest, trying to twist away from her. When Buffy, setting her jaw, persisted, Faith fought her for a few more moments, her resistance weak and ineffectual, continuing to yell that she didn't like her or anyone else, that no one liked her either, before suddenly turning and letting her full body weight sink into Buffy, burying her face in her shoulder and hugging her so tightly that Buffy winced, unprepared.

"I don't like you," Faith repeated in a mutter into Buffy's shoulder, her breathing shaky, and Buffy felt a few hot tears wet the bare skin of her shoulder.

She swallowed hard, trying to ignore the heat settling inside her, twisting itself slowly in her stomach, as once again, Faith and her very warm breath and very hot body got very, very close. Hot temperature-wise of course, not like, sexy, or, or seductive, or, or…hot TEMPERATURE wise!

"You don't like me…don't like you either," Faith was still asserting in a slurred mumble. "Don't like anyone…you all suck. Suckkkk…and not the right way…not the good way…"

Restraining herself from sarcastic comments or from pushing Faith away, Buffy simply let the woman hold her, somewhat loosely and very much awkwardly closing her arms around her in a reluctant returning embrace. She tried hard to ignore her own suddenly clammy palms, her roiling stomach, the heat flooding her face, slowly spreading through the rest of her, the number of times she was forced to lick her lips as her senses were overwhelmed with Faith's scent, Faith's warmth, Faith's touch. She didn't know whether to pray no one she knew would see them, or to pray that someone would, so they could rescue her.

But a tiny voice inside, a voice she quickly squashed, said she didn't really want to be rescued…and that alarmed her almost as much as Faith herself did.

Friend…friend, you do this for friends…you hug friends, you comfort friends, you shut them up when they're drunk babbling…and Faith is a friend…I guess…so this isn't weird…okay, it's very weird. But it's okay, she's a friend, and why are you worrying over this anyway, of course she is, why was this ever for even a split second a doubt, even if she doesn't seem to realize tonight that you are in fact, like, NOT ROBIN?

"Don't like you," Faith was muttering again, her voice softer now, and she had stopped crying entirely. Her embrace seemed different, looser, gentler, and as she exhaled slowly, still pressing her face against Buffy's neck, she flattened her hand between Buffy's shoulder blades, sighing out in a declaration that abruptly changed its tune. "Mmm…I love you, B…"

Buffy's eyes bulged, her throat choking briefly, and her mind spun wildly. She was pretty sure that Faith couldn't have said any other sentence to shock her more than that one…or set her heart to knocking any harder against her ribcage.


	5. Chapter 5

Distance

Disclaimer: I own nothing; just borrowing a while.

Author notes: One to two chapters after this.

Part 5

Almost immediately, with panicky instincts, Buffy attempted to shove Faith off of her. When Faith barely seemed to notice and did not budge, merely nuzzling her face closer into Buffy's shoulder and rubbing her hand slowly over her back, Buffy spoke up hurriedly, trying to sound calm and unconcerned even as her voice grew high and sputtered with her near alarm at Faith's previous declaration of her love for her.

"Okay…okay, Faith, you REALLY need to go inside and get someone to drive you home, because you REALLY need to sleep, because you, you don't even know what you're saying anymore, you are really, REALLY drunk, because you don't even know who I am anymore, and I think you think I'm, I think you think I'm the bad name, you know, the Robin name, and I'm not, you know, tall and bald and black, or, or MALE, I'm small and blonde and female, see, female with the girl parts, so if you forgot that, then-"

"I know who you are," Faith cut her off, showing absolutely no indications of any intentions of releasing Buffy any time soon, and as the brunette inhaled deeply, her nose bumping against Buffy's collarbones, her long hair tickling her shoulder, chest, and arm, so that Buffy gulped. "You're Beeeee…"

"Yeah…yeah, yes, yes, I am, I'm B, I mean, Buffy!" Buffy said hurriedly, nodding emphatically as she continued to attempt to gain some space away from the clinging vine now known as Faith…the vine that was continuing to rub its hands up and down Buffy's back in a way Buffy was horrified to acknowledge even privately didn't' exactly feel awful. "And, and you don't feel- you don't say- you don't, about ME, about BUFFY, you don't- we don't do that! And we don't' do- the touching- we don't-"

"We oughtta start then…how come we don't' start?" Faith mumbled, and her hand slipped lower, stopping at the small of Buffy's back…much, much too close to her backside for Buffy's liking. "I know you want to…know I want to…so we…we should…start…"

"No! No, no, we shouldn't!" Buffy squeaked as Faith's hand dipped still lower, and she hastily grabbed it with her own hand, plucking it away from her and fighting to keep it separate from her body. Faith seemed to take this as Buffy attempting to sweetly hold her hand, however, and entwined her fingers with hers, squeezing gently, even smiling as she turned her head, lifting it slightly off of Buffy's shoulder.

"No, no, Faith, see, this, this is where the drunk talk comes in, because, because you are WRONG, you don't want me, and I don't want you, and there, there is not LOVE, zero, nada, none, that, there is no love, you don't know what you're saying," Buffy continued to stammer, certain that every inch of her face must be approximately the shade of a brand new, freshly waxed fire engine as she continued to struggle to control Faith's hands and also keep her upright on her feet without causing them both to fall. She knew that she should simply sling Faith over her shoulder and drag her inside, but her hands were , seemingly unable to carry out her commands to them…why the hell were they going rogue now, when she needed them the most?

"I do too," Faith insisted, her tone stubborn, more like a petulant child than an earnest adult. But then she sighed, laying her head on Buffy's shoulder and ceasing her struggles with her, although Buffy stayed alert, very aware and suspicious of the hand still resting between her shoulder blades, not to mention the one settled docilely in hers. "I love you, B…always did…always will, always gonna, always, even if you don't love me…it's okay, you don't gotta love me, never gonna love me, I love you anyway…"

"Faith…Faith, let's go inside," Buffy said desperately, even though the thought of bringing her in to Andrew's camera and a crowd of drunk, easily amused people who would be no doubt fascinated for decades to come by an intoxicated Faith wrapped around her, loudly declaring her undying love for her, did not in the least sound like an experience Buffy cared to suffer any time soon. Especially considering the little incident of the near assault, aka Faith's dancing, from before.

She tried to pry Faith off of her at least partly, but this simply was not working, and all the while Faith was babbling like a Billy Bass the Talking Trout Thing whose batteries were on the blitz. Buffy had always hated that stupid thing. Figures Faith would be copying it now. Or something.

"You're so hot, B…and you know, you know what? You're beautiful too…and that, that's different…that's like…different…"

"Yeah, well, thanks, Faith, glad you approve," Buffy muttered, her ears burning, as she seized Faith around the waist and turned her roughly, finally managing to pry her apart from her a little.

Faith giggled, to Buffy's disbelief, as she slung the taller woman over her shoulder, legs dangling down her back. Faith could GIGGLE?

"Like this…gonna get rough? You know what I wanna do to you…always wanted you…first time ever saw you…I wanted, I wanted to take your stake and tear off your skirt…prissy little…girly thing…and…"

"Oh god I BEG you not to finish that sentence," Buffy said, her voice horror-stricken, even as a small part of her wondered what it was that Faith had been about to say. Aghast at this flickering thought, she readjusted her grip on her, beginning to lug her the rest of the way up the steps, as Faith hung upside down, a limp, unhelpful weight that giggled again.

"Never thought I'd get to ride ya, B…"

"Don't you puke on me now, don't you DARE puke on me," Buffy warned in sudden alarm, twisting her head to glance at Faith sharply. "I will drop you straight on your head and you're gonna hurt enough in the morning without a concussion to deal with too."

"Wouldn't puke on you, B…'cause I love you…then you'd stink," Faith reassured her, giggling yet again, the sound grating enough to Buffy's nerves that she wanted to choke her, and yet, she was still not sufficiently angry enough to satisfy herself. What was wrong with her?

"Even if you don't got tits…and you're stuck up…goody goody…always bossing us around…think you're better…can't find the fun…don't like me..don't forgive me…don't even know you got the hots for me…I still love you!" Faith declared, and Buffy spoke up indignantly.

"I do NOT have the hots for you, Faith!"

"Didn't say nothing about the rest…and you do too…dead boy lover," Faith slurred, and Buffy's jaw ached from her continual tension of it as she finally reached and struggled to open the door.

Still balancing the increasingly heavy, unhelpful Faith over her shoulder, Buffy stood in the doorway hurriedly scanning the crowd, looking for Xander and his keys, or even Willow and hers, and also for someone who was, if not sober, at least considerably less drunk than Faith, to hoist her off onto. But as Buffy's gaze took in the rest of the room's occupants, her jaw dropped, and she nearly let Faith fall on her head after all, even if the woman had so far managed not to vomit on her. This…this was far beyond what her eyes could handle…

Every single person Buffy saw before her had apparently, in the past half hour or so, become every bit as drunk as Faith, or perhaps taken very large hits of a very scary drug. Everywhere she looked people were half dressed, some fully nude or close to it, ripping clothes off others as they aggressively grabbed, groped, pawed, and moved with them in what was apparently dancing, but looked to Buffy's stunned eyes more like assault. Empty or partly empty alcohol bottles were strewn everywhere, their contents spilling out, and people were rolling on the floor, moaning aloud as they kissed each other with passion that looked painful to Buffy, like bites…

As her eyes darted about rapidly, trying to make sense of what had changed from a relaxed partying to what looked now to be a wild borderline mass orgy, Buffy's eyes popped as she began to recognize some of the writhing forms of the crowd. Willow and Kennedy, rolling on the floor by the couch they had been on before, Willow straddling Kennedy, unbuttoning her shirt, then burying her mouth between Kennedy's breasts…Xander, sandwiched between not one, not two, but THREE young Slayers Buffy recognized as having previously displayed signs of having a crush on him, his face lit up with pleasure as they rubbed their bodies against him. Andrew, beaming as he stood bare-chested on the bar counter, wildly swinging his discarded shirt in circles around his head…Rona and Vi, who Buffy had not ever once thought of as anything other than what she had assumed to be heterosexual, paired up with the usually timid Vi pressing Rona against the wall, aggressively kissing her as her hand slid under Rona's shirt…

And what scared Buffy the most, the person she DIDN'T see… if all this was going on, if everyone was doing this without caring who saw…then where was Dawn, and what was she doing with her secret boyfriend that was so much worse that she didn't come out here with everyone else?

Still dangling over Buffy's shoulder, Faith twisted her head to look at what had stopped Buffy in her tracks. As she took in the revelers before her, she grinned, pleased, eyes lighting up.

"Ooooh, look B…let's show 'em what we got…Slayers do it better…"

She turned her head back, opening her mouth wide and without warning, beginning to suck hard on Buffy's neck. As a sharp jolting of simultaneous shock, agitation, and very unwanted arousal shot through Buffy's center, she yelped, tossing Faith forward off of her roughly so the woman fell on her ass. Her heart pounding, thoughts tangling in genuine near panic, Buffy ran, squeezing and cringing her way over to where Willow and Kennedy still rolled about, Willow's earlier tipsy comment reverberating in her mind.

She had said a spell for "openness of spirit…" well all of this was just a little too damn open for Buffy's liking, and the faster they closed all these stupid spirits again, the better.


	6. Chapter 6

Distance

Disclaimer: I own nothing; just borrowing a while.

Part 6

As Buffy drew closer to Willow and Kennedy, she saw that where Willow had previously been nuzzling her face into Kennedy's chest before, it seemed that she was using tongue and teeth now, and Kennedy's hand marked her an active and enthusiastic participant as they ran up and over Willow's shoulders, back, and backside, fingers digging in hard enough that she was likely leaving marks.

Normally Buffy would have been flabbergasted and mortified enough to cry out and cover her eyes, if Willow and Kennedy hadn't been performing even half of the actions they were engaging in. But now she was feeling anger more predominantly than disgust or even shock, flaring up strongly enough inside her to narrow her focus and crowd out all other emotion. All she wanted to was to have it stop, ALL of it, and as she stood over the tangled couple, similarly paired bodies writhing on all sides around her, Buffy raised her voice about everyone else's, trying to get through their frenzy and catch their attention without resorting to having to touch them in all their half-clad non glory.

"Willow!" she yelled, waving her arms above the women's heads. "Willow! Stop it!"

Chest heaving, her breath coming in rapid pants, Willow lifted her head from Kennedy, still lying down full length across her. Her eyes glittering with pleasure, pale skin flushed, she smiled at Buffy with a slow, knowing seductiveness that unsettled Buffy to her core.

"Hey, Buffy…you look lonely, standing there all by yourself. You want to join? There's plenty of room for three…"

She extended her arm to her, and Buffy shook her head hard, eyes widening as she took another fast step back. Oh my god…was everyone she knew a secret sexual wild cat, were they all secretly in love with her?

"What? No, NO!" she sputtered, and Kennedy turned her head too, smirking up at her.

"Willow always wanted to try with a third…come on, you know you want to…"

"I always got off on the thought of how much endurance a Slayer must have, even before Ken," Willow added, starting to sit up, still smiling with much too much interest than Buffy could accept now…or ever. "I mean, you're such a tiny thing, Buffy, but you're so strong…I bet you keep up with Ken and then some, huh…I'd love to watch you two going at it all night long…"

"Stop it!" Buffy yelped, immediately assuming a combative posture and rapidly shooting glares of intense warning towards a few couples who were also now eyeing her with rising interest in the same vein of Willow's and Kennedy's. "If any of you touches me I'll start breaking fingers, and that is NOT just a threat, that is a fair advance warning. Willow- Kennedy- oh for god's sake, stop it, put your clothes on!" she almost shrieked as Willow and Kennedy sat up more fully, shirts- and bras- hanging wide open, and she half covered her eyes, taking a deep breath as she partly turned away.

Stop thinking about how Willow doesn't have freckles on her breasts…stop thinking about Willow's breasts…stop comparing the size of your breasts to Willow's and Kennedy's breasts…

God she was scarred. What if they infected her? What if she got infected with their current skankness, or their lesbianness, or both…oh god, maybe she should just run for it.

"Willow…Willow, this is a spell," Buffy tried to say with logic and control, at least as much as could be managed while still half covering her eyes and turning her head. "Remember what you said about doing a spell? For open spirits or something…remember? Well this is it…this is what's happening! So close them!"

"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport…listen to yourself…listen to what your body needs," Willow nearly purred, and she stepped towards Buffy with a predatory smile that made the blonde Slayer throw up her hands, intent on blocking any further advances. "Listen to what it wants-"

"It wants you to back up. It wants you to put your shirt back on- it wants you to undo this friggin' spell!" Buffy said hurriedly, even as she caught herself peeking towards the half-dressed women again before abruptly tearing her eyes away, sickened by the low-down stirring inside her. "Willow, is this PERMANENT? How long will it last?"

"Only for tonight…shh, Buffy…you look all tense," Willow mock pouted, and her voice dropped lower as she began to stroke a hand up Kennedy's side once more, eyes still on Buffy. "We can help you relax…"

"I'm relaxed, very, very relaxed, no need!" Buffy hastened to assure her as both Willow and Kennedy reached out for her, barely avoiding their grasping hands and colliding into another very "open" couple nearby. "Very relaxed, but look, look what this is doing- look at Andrew!" she said in desperation, as the man in question enthusiastically thrust his hips forward on the counter, rapidly, pulling his discarded shirt up between his legs.

Willow and Kennedy's eyes shifted towards him calmly, and Kennedy smiled.

"Nice abs…maybe he would be our third…"

"You have to undo this!" Buffy cried out indignantly, violently shoving aside a random hand reaching out for her and attempting to keep a wary eye about her on all sides, even as pleaded with the redhead still eyeing her as she might a particularly sprinkle-covered donut. "Willow, we can't let this go on all night!"

"You don't sound like you're having fun…" Willow mused, shaking her head, then looked at Kennedy. "Baby, she's not having fun…"

"No! No, I'm not!" Buffy said quickly, shaking her head. "So whatever you said, why don't you undo it and then-"

"We can show her fun…" Kennedy murmured, and smiling at Buffy wickedly, she began to undo the zipper of her pants.

Giving up entirely now, knowing this could only escalate further into badness on all levels, Buffy turned rapidly, deciding that her only option was to escape. She could not watch all these people at once, could not fend off all of them, if they all suddenly decided she should join an orgy or something…and it looked for the most part like most were fine with staying right where they were, so they wouldn't be driving or running around aimlessly in this state. They weren't hurting each other, at least, not enough to be of the involuntary, nonsexual type of hurting…and weak a reason as it was, Buffy couldn't stand to witness much more of this. Maybe if they were lucky, the spell would stop affecting them after midnight, if Willow's words that it would only last "tonight" could be taken literally…

Stopping first by Xander on her flight towards the doorway, Buffy paused only to wrestle his keys out of his back pocket, fending off the advances of Xander and all three of the Slayers attached to him in order to do so. Heart slamming against her chest, cheeks heated, both panic and what she was horrified to recognize as building reluctant arousal swirling itself in her chest, Buffy continued to squeeze her way towards the front door, towards her escape-

Only to be stopped by a hand catching hold of her wrist, and an all too familiar voice saying her name. Well, part of it.

"Beeee….I thought you said you liked me…"

For one terrible moment Buffy was unsure whether she was going to whirl around and slug Faith, or else give up, give in, and let her drag her away to do whatever she wanted to her…give herself over to her…

But instead, she turned and grabbed Faith's shoulder, spinning her around rapidly, straight into Vi and Rona, the first two people she saw nearby. As Faith careened into their heavily embracing forms, knocking them to the ground, Buffy didn't' pause to look behind. She couldn't hear or see Faith struggling up to follow her, and she hoped the Slayers had become so distracted with one another that Buffy was forgotten entirely.

What kind of sick situation was this that Buffy would pray for a threesome, particularly one not involving herself?

Not that she wanted one! Of course not! Not with them- or anyone- or ever- probably…

God she had to get out of here.

As Buffy sped down Club Maui's front steps, searching with darting eyes for Xander's car, she was disturbed by a question that occurred to her as to why she was the only one somehow not affected by Willow's spell. What could that mean that she would somehow repell a spell for openness? Was she not open somehow, in some way? Was she so closed she could never be open?

But even more disturbing to her was the tiny part of her that sort of wished she had been, a part that whispered she would have then at least been able to be a part of them, to maybe bridge some of their growing distance. And that maybe, just maybe, it would have felt good.

Buffy heard the first few coming into the sleeping sections of the Slayer headquarters somewhere between 12:30 and 1:00. At first she tensed, listening for signs of continued "open spirits," but when no one came pounding on her door, giggled and moaned loudly, or turned on music at top volume, she figured that perhaps her hope had come true, and as soon as Buffy's birthday was officially ended at midnight, the spell had worn off. Eventually she drifted into a restless sleep, though her dreams were plagued with lurid, strange envisioning, involving lots of nudity, that caused her to awake, sweating, nervous, and infuriatingly breathless.

The next morning was more than a little awkward. Buffy was not surprised at the utter silence of the halls; if anyone was even awake, they were likely too sick and hung over to move. If they remembered what had happened- the way they had behaved, and what they had done, not to mention what they had seen, the night before, they were likely also too mortified to step out and look anyone in the eye.

Buffy knew she was. She couldn't even think of anyone without immediately envisioning them in the unclad, lusty state they had been in the night before. She would have seriously considered asking Willow to modify her memory, if she wouldn't have had to look her in the face to do so.

As it was, the need for food and a bathroom eventually caused paths to cross, with much flushing, averting of eyes, and scurrying away, and by mid afternoon Buffy had run into Willow. Immediately the Wiccan turned crimson, beginning to stammer.

"Buffy! Buffy- I'm sorry- the spell- I didn't think it would turn out like- I should have- I'm sorry, it was just, your birthday, and you're so stressed lately, I know, and I just wanted you, for all of us, to-"

"It's okay," Buffy rushed to talk over her, having to fight not to close her eyes, to recoil away from the other woman in her attempt to banish from her mind all the images cropping up of Willow sitting up with her shirt open, bra hanging loosely, of Willow's lips curled into a feral, lusty smile, Willow's face between Kennedy's breasts as her nails tore scratches into Kennedy's skin…and the unsettling, queasy-yet-not-quite-pleasant sensation it invoked in the pit of her stomach.

"It's okay…those things happen, they happen, and it's my birthday, and it always happens on my birthday, so probably not your fault, just the standard Buffy jinx…"

"Maybe. Still…I'm sorry, it wasn't supposed to be like that! And all the, the reaching, and the talk- I don't think that, you know I don't think that!" Willow said desperately, her voice shrill, pleading, and Buffy nodded hurriedly, still studiously avoiding looking at her straight on.

"No, no, of course not- spell. All spell. Spells can be bad, very, very bad."

"Very!" Willow nodded fervently, her features strained in her discomfort, and she glanced hurriedly down the hall. "Uh- I gotta go- I, I should-"

"Go- go, yes, go, I go, I should too," Buffy rushed to agree, and as the women hurried past each other, both avoiding looking at each other again, it occurred to Buffy that she didn't know what to be horrified over Dawn for…and she wondered whether this was a good thing or not.

She didn't see Faith until early evening. The brunette was emerging from the bathroom, her hair tangled, curls wildly disarrayed, eyes bleary and bloodshot, her face pale and creased. She had likely been sleeping or passed out until recently, and she looked so ill and exhausted that Buffy wondered if she had just finished vomiting.

For a moment, as their eyes met, both women froze. Buffy could not immediately make herself drop her eyes, though every instinct told her to do so. For just a moment Buffy saw emotion flicker across the surface of Faith's eyes, so quickly she could not quite label it. And then Faith's eyes blanked over quickly once more, and she shrugged, letting her shoulders fall heavily, and spoke in a raspy near croak.

"Sorry if I skipped out early on your big birthday bash, B…I got kinda wasted, don't remember jackshit about anything from last night. Woke up, and I was here, so I guess it all turned out alright, huh?"

As Buffy continued to meet Faith's eyes with hers, a slow certainty came over her that Faith was lying. Willow had remembered…Willow had obviously known and been horrified by all that she had done the night before. Admittedly, she had not been as drunk as Faith…but even so, Buffy was sure that Faith did remember.

Why would she lie now…Faith, who was never embarrassed and rarely shamed, Faith, who regularly behaved in a sexual manner and deliberately set out to embarrass Buffy by it at times? Why would she not use the events of the night before to needle and harass Buffy for the rest of their existence? Why would she look Buffy in the eye and deny it had happened?

Unless…unless there was something at stake for her by doing so…unless what Faith would risk, what she would then have to acknowledge, was not embarrassment…but rejection.

Was it possible that what Faith had been saying…the feelings she had been declaring..whether brought out by the spell or not…what if they were true? What if Faith did want Buffy….what if she did love her?

As these thoughts slowly settled into Buffy's mind, she knew that this was the moment, the possible turning point in both their lives. If she called Faith out now, if they talked this out…if they acknowledged the truth, and began to feel out what had happened, to feel out who and what they really were to each other, who and what they wanted…

If Buffy did this now, maybe they could be helped. If she did this, maybe they could draw closer in a way they never had before, gain an understanding of each other they had never thought possible. If she did this, maybe Buffy could feel more connected, more a part of things, close in on what she had once had with others, who she had once been…

Maybe if they did this, they could both be happier than they ever could be before. If she did this.

But what Buffy did was nod slowly, still meeting Faith's eyes…and what she said was, "Yeah, Faith…I guess it all turned out alright."

Neither woman spoke as they both turned away. Neither looked back as they walked apart. But both women's hands trembled, forming hurried fists, both's shoulders rounded in, and though both strode with confidence, both's stomach twisted into painful contortions with the knowledge of the distance growing between them in more than feet and inches.

End


End file.
